Windows successfully reinstalled on HI10 CW1515

Windows Tablets Hi.10
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I finally managed to re-install Windows 10 on my HI10 CW1515 (base model, not plus or pro or X or Air) though it did take some trying. FYI I picked this model (made in 2016 I believe) because it had 2 full size USB ports (take note manufacturers), not those new USB-C things that nothing of mine fits without adapters, and bought in 2018. Only a Windows update screwed it up and stopped it from booting and the recovery option wouldn’t work either, it just stuck in a boot loop. More on updates later.

I tried 3 different versions of Win 10, from this site, but the one that worked best was an older version - 1607 which I think was installed from the factory originally, labeled as C109 from here: My Files and I then downloaded the driver files from here: Hi10(x64)drive

Note: I have the optional keyboard and a wired mouse attached, so makes it easier.

Then unzipped (unrar’d) with 7zip, copied to a USB memory stick (16GB) and volume labelled WINPE (else it won’t work) using my desktop PC. Following instructions I booted with F7 pressed, picked ‘UEFI: Sandisk, Partition 1’ from the list and Windows started it’s install in command prompt mode, typed ‘Exit’ from keyboard when prompted and let Windows carry on until I got the setup (Country, language etc).

The problem I had initially was lack of sound, I tried several times to install the driver but found the only way it world work was to go into ‘Device Manager’ (right click ‘This PC’ select ‘Properties’ then ‘Device Manager’ from the top left of the ‘System’ window), and delete BOTH listings from ‘Audio inputs and outputs’ (at the top) and ‘Sound, video and game controllers’ near the bottom, only then could I load the drivers (right click the ES8316AudCodec.inf file from the Audio folder) and select ‘Install’ and get the sound to work (if it doesn’t work for you, choose a different driver in the Audio folder).

I also installed the touch screen driver (again, right click the .inf file and select ‘Install’). It’s the same for the other drivers too, although I missed out the gravity sensor as I run only in landscape mode on Windows, I found it annoying to keep switching sideways. Some drivers install automatically via Windows but if you’re missing anything or something doesn’t work then just find the driver and install from the .inf in the appropriate folder from driver download files.

When doing the install I purposefully DIDN’T set up Wi-Fi so it wouldn’t download Windows updates, it takes a while and I just wanted to get it working to start with. Now interestingly after I’d set it all up and was happy with how it worked I did notice the battery life was back to 3 to 4 hours, like when the tablet was new, whereas before the crash, and Windows automatic updates, the battery life was down to 1.5 to 2 hours, I thought the tablet battery was failing then, but it appears the updates have an unhealthy effect and drain the battery unnecessarily, I was certainly surprised to say the least. If anyone says updates don’t hurt your PC don’t believe them, I have proved (to myself at least) this isn’t the case, they definitely had a detrimental effect on my tablet. I have now disabled the Windows updates permanently on my tablet (Youtube has some good videos on how to do this) and I would recommend it 100%.

Finally, after disabling Windows updates, I have installed ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus and Firewall for security (I don’t trust Microsoft anyway), FYI you have to install the firewall first then the antivirus afterwards in zonealarm, and I’ve got rid of most of the annoying junk Windows puts on your computer, like double drive letters in file explorer, quick links, onedrive, groove music, films and tv, xbox, maps etc. (info and instructions freely available online) although some involve regedit (not for the faint hearted but I’m a bit of a nerd) and I have got something I actually like using again, it boots faster (ZoneAlarm slows it a little) and shuts down quicker too, so I’m a lot happier now than I was before it crashed. I now have a tablet that is very usable and like it was when new :grinning:

All I have to do now is reload all my ham radio software and I’m good to go.

Additional: To prevent future disasters I would highly recommend everyone buys a full version of Acronis True Image from acronis.com, it’s well worth the 30/40/50 $/£/€ it costs, and sometimes special offers are available at a lower price, it will save so much time next time you have a catastrophic failure as you can make a complete image of the eMMC drive or just the Windows C: drive if needed (mine used 17+GB so 32 GB minimum drive needed, the bigger the better, I used the 128GB microSD card), just remember to make a boot drive to restore things. It has saved me several times when Win updates have totally screwed up my main PC to be unbootable, and now I’ve done it for my HI10 tablet too (I have the 3 PC version). I believe the trial version will let you do a backup but you need the full version to restore. I’ve used it for some years now and couldn’t be happier with it. If your tablet or PC works fine at the moment, now is the time to make a backup, if you don’t then it’ll be too late, don’t say I didn’t warn you :smiley: You can also set it to do regular backups at intervals you can select, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly etc.

Disclaimer: The instruction listed above are from my own experience and no responsibility can be accepted by me or the Chuwi forum for any damage or malfunction caused by following said instructions (yeah, the legal bit, sorry)

Have fun all and I hope this helps those that are in need of it. Stay safe everybody.

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Thanks for sharing your experience and for the work of putting together this tutorial.

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IOU a beer, or better…
Thank you

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Hi, have you ever tried a recovery using an image? If so, can you give some details? Did you use true image running under w10 or did you boot from a recovery stick? Was It winpe or the Linux version?
Thanks again and regards

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I haven’t restored the Chuwi backup yet, no need so far, I only re-installed it all last week, but I have restored my main desktop PC several times after Win 10 updates screwed it up. First time I did the Windows 10 restore from the menu then put Acronis back on and restored from that, the second time I used a USB boot stick to start the restore, it isn’t difficult and saves a lot of time. Acronis can make a bootable memory stick (in ‘Tools’ menu), volume labelled ‘Acronis’, and it really works. I have no experience with Linux.

I’ve used Acronis since Win XP, before that I used Norton Ghost (that only works on 16 bit PC’s). I even had a complete hard drive failure once, I was using raid 0 on IDE (WinXP) and one drive failed, but I was able to recover all my files from the Acronis backup and put it on my new PC. Acronis can read the backups on another PC like File Explorer and I’ve copied all the info that way. I’ve used PC’s for the last thirty odd years so I’m an old hand at it now, lol.

We all learn by our mistakes and I’ve made a few so I’ve learnt a lot over the years. It depends how valuable you think your files are and you only realise how important they are after you’ve lost them, so now I make regular backups to an external USB hard drive and have done for some years, I’m a ‘belt and braces’ kinda guy.

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I have followed the same path: ghost then acronis.
I know i can restore on my PC because, alas, i have restored It more than once.
I only use the stick and do not install true image.
However, i have also seen the restore fail on some systems (and cloned disks failing to boot) to be somewhat skeptic.
If you have never restored on the Chuwi, you simply do not know if it will succeed.
I am unwilling to try since if it fails i will waste a lot if time…
That was the reason i asked if you have ever tried to restore on the Chuwi.
Having an image is only half of the job.

I do not understand the reason of not reinstalling wifi.
you can use it on a lan with no internet access, and in any case you can disabile it at will.
You can also block internet access with a firewall or with the router.

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Concerning backups.
Data backup is trivial. What is a pain in the back is restoring the OS and applications.
in my PC’s all disks are on drawers so i just clone the whole SSD on another one using the stick.
If something go wrong, i can swap the disk in a few seconds.
This, alas, cannot be done on the Chuwi. You need to resort to restoring images.
Hoping the restore works…

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Tbh the Chuwi is only a plaything / backup computer (it’s always good to have a spare), I use it mostly for remote control of my Yaesu ham radio via CAT using HRD software, and for monitoring frequencies using SDR sharp with a USB dongle. I can also program handheld transceivers with it in the field if I need to. Odd times I’ll have a browse online but the most it was ever used was when my other half’s laptop broke and she borrowed it for a few weeks 'til her’s was fixed. As long as it can be restored when needed that’s all I want. If I have to re-install windows again I’ll try Acronis first but if I have to do it the hard way again I will, just to get it in working condition. It doesn’t have any paid for software on it and likely won’t ever have.

My main PC is a different matter of course, that’s the important one. I’ve only cloned the SSD once just for emergencies (to a spare sata H/D) but I haven’t needed to use that yet, the backups on external USB drives have worked so far. I’ve cloned XP drives a few times for H/D upgrades and the only trouble I had with that was when one of the other drives had an active partition and it tried to boot from that instead.

Not setting up the WiFi (Wifi name, password) on the Chuwi was the quickest and easiest way to stop the updates when Windows was first installing, else it does it in the background anyway and makes the install take longer, it has no lan connection port and the firewall wasn’t installed then, the WiFi was setup only when install was completed or I couldn’t get online with it. The Windows update was disabled after I installed dot net 2.5 just to run the start-up sound changer for my Star Trek LCARS “All systems functioning within normal parameters” on start up, which I’ve had on all my PC’s for the last 20 years. It does run a lot faster without updates and the battery life is better too, so I’ll keep it like that for now, as it’s not my main computer it doesn’t matter so much.

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Hi CrumblePie,

what was the other two versions of Windows10? For me Hi10 CWI515 (single Boot) was C109 not possible. They version is a dual version.

Thank you

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The two other versions I tried were named V400 and C189 and were newer than C109, C109 was more like the original (older) factory install of Windows 10. My CW1515 is a dual boot system though not single boot, I still want to use the Android part even if it’s not very often, it’s useful sometimes. The Windows re-install didn’t affect the Android part at all, that’s still the original from the factory and works well.
Edit: The boot loader wasn’t affected either, I can still choose flag or robot with 10 second countdown, Windows install knew where to go without changing other stuff.
Thought: Windows can be downloaded from the Microsoft website for free, the licence key is (apparently) stored in the Chuwi bios so installing a fresh copy for single boot shouldn’t be a problem, you’d just have to install the correct drivers afterwards.

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At the start of your discuccion, you mentioned that you have the keyboard for your Chewi.
My Chewi is the 15125 dual boot version. What is the keyboard? model number and source to get one? Thanks Ed